A bodyguard for Megan Thee Stallion who was due to testify at Tory Lanez’s felony assault trial — but who purportedly stopped responding to law enforcement this week — was expected to face questions about a prior statement he gave to authorities implicating Lanez.
A source tells Rolling Stone that the bodyguard, Justin Edison, said in the witness statement that Lanez approached him at the rapper’s rental house a day after Megan was shot in July 2020 to apologize for wounding the “Savage” singer in what Lanez allegedly described as an alcohol-fueled accident.
Edison — who was not present when the gunfire erupted, but who received the panicked text from Megan’s former friend Kelsey Harris stating, “Help/Tory shot meg/911” — claimed in his statement that Lanez personally told him he was sorry for accidentally striking Megan when he randomly fired multiple shots at the ground, the source says.
Edison and his lawyer did not respond to Rolling Stone‘s requests for comment on his whereabouts or prior statement to authorities. Attempts to reach Lanez’s defense lawyer as well as prosecutors were not immediately successful.
Late on Friday, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott asked Judge David Herriford to release the “body attachment” (a type of warrant) for Edison. Bott referenced Edison in his opening statement Monday, saying he expected Edison to take the witness stand and say he heard Lanez admit he was the triggerman.
Megan’s lawyer Alex Spiro released a statement Saturday saying Edison stopped responding this week ahead of his expected testimony, but that the search for him was not over.
“We recently learned that Justin Edison went missing right before he was scheduled to appear in court. The L.A. District Attorney is currently looking into his disappearance and welcomes any information on his whereabouts,” Spiro told Rolling Stone.
An LAPD spokeswoman said Saturday she had no information about a missing person’s investigation related to Edison.
Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is battling three felony charges in the high-profile case alleging he shot Megan in both feet during a drunken assault on a residential street in the Hollywood Hills before daybreak on July 12, 2020.
He has pleaded not guilty to assault with a firearm causing great bodily injury, concealing a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and the recently added count of discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
If convicted as charged, the Alone at Prom rapper is facing the possibility of 22 years and eight months in prison and subsequent deportation since he’s a citizen of Canada.
Megan, whose full name is Megan Pete, gave harrowing testimony on the witness stand Tuesday, saying the shooting left her with lasting physical and emotional injuries.
She recalled turning to see Peterson holding a gun and pointing it at her as he allegedly shouted “Dance Bitch” and the shots rang out.
Harris also took the witness stand for two days of tortured testimony during which she disavowed key elements of a detailed statement she gave to prosecutors in September. Harris confirmed she heard the gunshots, but recanted her September claim that she watched Peterson fire the semiautomatic 9mm handgun five times over the open door of his Cadillac Escalade.
When Peterson’s lawyer grilled her about her September statement under cross-examination, he asked if she was under the “impression” that if she told prosecutors what they “wanted to hear,” she could be “done with this case.”
Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said the question impugned the “integrity” of the D.A.’s office and asked the court to allow the entire recorded September interview to be played for the jury. The judge granted the request, and jurors heard the 88-minute audio interview on Friday.